Sen. Kirk: Chicago Could End Up Like Detroit If Mayor Emanuel Not Re-Elected March 2, 2015 Craig Dellimore (CBS) — Republican U.S. Senator Mark Kirk has given his tacit endorsement of Mayor Rahm Emanuel for re-election, reports WBBM Political Editor Craig Dellimore. He refused to call it an endorsement, but Senator Mark Kirk made clear he feels Chicago would risk dire financial straits like Detroit has seen if Mayor Emanuel is not re-elected.

ities: The problem with socialism, Margaret Thatcher once noted, is you eventually run out of other people's money. In progressive Chicago, that's hit home as Moody's has cut its credit rating to two grades above "junk." Chicago's finances are staggering under the weight of an unfunded pension liability that Moody's Investors Service has estimated at $32 billion, eight times the city's operating revenue. Chicago has a $300 million structural deficit. And Illinois law requires the city to up its 2016 contributions to its police and fire pension funds by $550 million. "This is an unfortunate wake-up call for anyone still...

When Alison Norris couldn’t find work in Detroit, she searched past the city limits, ending up with a part-time restaurant job that’s 20 miles away but takes at least two hours to get to via separate city and suburban bus systems. For many city residents with limited skills and education, Detroit is an employment desert, having lost tens of thousands of blue-collar jobs in manufacturing cutbacks and service jobs as the population dwindled. What’s available to those without cars—about 40 percent of Detroit’s population, according to federal figures—often are low-paying retail or sales positions far outside the city. […] The...

The nasty weather didn’t stop a group of around 60 anti-Israel activists from storming the steps of the Washington Convention Center and blocking at least one entrance to the conference grounds. Code Pink and other anti-Israeli groups went into a frenzy against AIPAC, the “Israel lobby,” and what they believe is the “Apartheid” State of Israel. I also saw harassment of men, women, and children who had done nothing to deserve it except make the mistake of revealing their conference badge before they reached the door. Those who were obviously religious Jews (based on their head coverings, clothing, and...

First in Detroit, then in Stockton, Calif., and now in New Jersey, judges and other top officials are challenging the widespread belief that public pensions are untouchable. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey delivered the latest blow on Tuesday, when he proposed to freeze that state’s public pension plans and move workers into new ones intended not to overwhelm future budgets or impose open-ended demands on taxpayers. The first crack came in Detroit, where a judge ruled that public pensions could, in fact, be reduced, at least in bankruptcy. Then, just a few weeks ago, an opinion by the bankruptcy...

The principal of Romeo High School has called an outraged father to apologize about a controversial homework assignment. The 9th grade biology worksheet sent home with students this week featured questions about a mother trying to determine the identity of her baby’s father. Possible answers included: the cable guy, the mailman, the cab driver, the bartender and the guy at the club.

<p>DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A Detroit jury couldn’t reach a verdict in the case of an off-duty suburban police sergeant accused of robbing three men suspected in the theft of a cellphone belonging to his daughter.</p>
<p>Wayne County Circuit Judge Tim Kenny declared a mistrial Friday for Michael Notoriano. The suspended St. Clair Shores officer was charged with armed robbery and unlawful imprisonment stemming from the July 2013 incident.</p>

He is a Muslim. He asked his victims if they were Muslim. Then he stabbed them when they say they weren’t. If this isn’t a hate crime, what is? The fact that Terrence Lavaron Thomas has not been charged with a hate crime shows yet again that hate crime laws are political tools in the hands of the powerful, used to menace the powerless groups they dislike. In the Detroit area, the Muslim community is powerful — so this must not be a hate crime. “Detroit Muslim accused of stabbing victims over religion not charged with hate crime,” by Gus...

Isn’t it funny how all these mainstream media “mistakes” run in exactly the same direction. They never, ever seem to make a mistake that falsely portray Muslims as perpetrators and non-Muslims as victims. The Washington Post did the same thing as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution does here. This kind of thing shows how the state press keeps the lemmings in line. “Atlanta Journal-Constitution Falsely Claims Detroit Muslim ‘Targeted Muslims,’” by Warner Todd Huston, Breitbart, February 19, 2015: On Tuesday news went national of a Muslim man who was arrested in Detroit for stabbing two non-Muslims at a bus stop after asking...

The federal judge who oversaw Detroit's historic bankruptcy case ruled on Thursday that the nearly $178 million charged to the city by law firms and consultants for fees and expenses was reasonable. U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Steven Rhodes said he based his decision mainly on the complexity of the bankruptcy case filed in July 2013 as well as substantial reductions that the firms agreed to make in their bills. "The city is now on a path to success precisely because of the expertise, skill, commitment, endurance, personal sacrifice, civility and proficiency of all of the professionals in the case, including...

General Motors Co (GM.N) said Thursday it will build the Chevrolet Bolt electric car at an assembly plant near Detroit, where it will invest $200 million for the project. The compact Bolt, shown as a concept vehicle at the Detroit auto show last month, is designed to have a range of 200 miles, and will cost about $30,000 apiece after tax breaks. GM's announcement confirms a report last week by Reuters that the Bolt would be produced at the under-used Orion assembly plant in Michigan. The only electric car currently available with a 200-mile range is the Tesla Model S,...

“It might be tough, but my dad used to say, tough times don't last — tough people do." – James RobertsonJames, on his 21 mile daily commute on footI know we could all use a feel-good story, and I have a doozy for you today. It comes to us from - of all places – Detroit. As you read James’ story you may begin to understand what once made Detroit a great city; a monument to American enterprise and the “Arsenal of Democracy” before the liberals took it over and tried to “fix” it with government dollars. It’s because people...

DETROIT (AP) – Chris Mathews’ crew showed up this month to demolish one of the thousands of vacant homes destined for demolition as part of Detroit’s grand plan to bulldoze its way to prosperity when a call from his office stopped them in their tracks: Someone was living there. A middle-aged woman who watched the crew tear away the home’s warped wooden steps the day before had called their company, Adamo Demolition, to point out she was living on the second floor, despite no power, heat or gas and a flooded basement. “It was like a swimming pool. We would...

“I’d like to say sorry to the families of Aiyana Jones, Michael Brown, Eric Garner and I want to apologize to them for not being able to get justice for their loved ones who were murdered in cold blood. And in respect for the peaceful protest I want to say hands up, don’t shoot, black lives matter. That’s it your honor.” Michigan Live described the crime spree by the two men and their sentences. Photos of the victims are posted at MLive as well as photos of their killers yawning and making faces in court. “Bobbish, 17, and Kudla, 18,...

A black man who was found guilty of murdering two white teenagers execution-style in a vacant Detroit field defiantly declared “black lives matter” Wednesday before being sentenced to life in prison. Fredrick Young and Felando Hunter were sentenced Wednesday to life in prison without parole for robbing, torturing and murdering Jourdan Bobbish and Jacob Kudla, who had met up with them in July 2012 to buy drugs, a local Fox affiliate reported. Young shocked the courtroom when he was given the chance to address the victims’ families, but instead apologized to the families of Michael Brown and Eric Garner.

Several months ago, Elijah Woody was arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. Elijah Woody is an active member of an open carry group, Hells Saints, in Detroit, that was featured in an MSNBC video about open carry. I wrote about Elijah's arrest and allegations of misconduct by the Detroit police officers, all of whom are black, as is Elijah. The trial ended yesterday, Friday, the 16th of January, 2015. I found the story riveting. It makes you appreciate juries. This is the sort of story that Eric Holder should be concerned with, but will never be investigated by...

<p>They have the Detroit Auto Show going on, but also in the Motor City now has a frozen house!</p>
<p>This 100 year old Detroit home has turned into a gigantic icicle formation --- after all the pipes burst. According to neighbors, when the weather turned cold in November, whoever was staying here left and never told the water company.</p>

Non-Muslim ‘no-entry’ zones have been multiplying all over Europe, and even popping up in cities here in the U.S. This should heighten every American’s awareness of the imminent danger we as a nation face. Once established, they are unsafe, and proving deadly for non-Muslims to inhabit or even to walk through the neighborhood.< These signs are being placed all over the UKParts of the UK have already become ‘no-go’ areas for police because minority communities are operating their own justice systems, according to the Chief Inspector of Constabulary.Honor killings, domestic violence, sexual abuse of children and female genital mutilations are...

I see the loyal Opposition re-elected their illustrious leaders yesterday; they are beginning to act more like Democrats every day. ‘Nuf said.So as the next do-nothing Congress convenes Big Guy will travel to Detroit today to take another victory lap (this will make what, a thousand?) for the auto bailout. In an exclusive interview ahead of today’s speech BO warned that cheap gas can’t last:I don’t know about you, butt when Big Guy warns about the price of energy going up, I pay attention:“Under my plan of a cap-and-trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket.”As the Detroit News reported, Big...

Obama plans to talk manufacturing in Detroit ahead of auto show By Khalil AlHajal | kalhajal@mlive.com January 05, 2015 at 1:48 PM DETROIT, MI -- President Barack Obama is scheduled to speak in Michigan on Wednesday and is expected talk about manufacturing jobs, according to the Associated Press. The visit will come days ahead of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, which begins with press previews Jan. 12. The president is expected to highlight manufacturing jobs and his decision to bail out the auto industry in a Detroit-area visit before heading to Phoenix the next day to focus...

New Jersey governor Chris Christie has landed himself in hot water after he was caught enthusiastically celebrating a victory for the Dallas Cowboys. Christie was filmed hugging Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones and his son Stephen in a garish orange sweater after Dallas defeated Detroit Lions in a match yesterday. A native of New Jersey, Christie follows the Cowboys despite his team having a long-standing rivalry with the New York Giants in his own state as they play in the same NFL conference every year. He also cheers for the Cowboys ahead of his state's other NFL team, the New York...

An unusual home taking shape inside General Motors' sprawling Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant is intended to be part of a movement to rebuild the city's economy and deteriorating, disappearing housing stock. Skilled-trades workers, taking breaks from their tasks at the factory that produces the electric Chevrolet Volt and other vehicles, dart in and out to do door, window and wall installation and framing, as well as electrical and plumbing work. Meanwhile, a nonprofit urban farming group is preparing property a few miles away that will welcome the project, what's believed to be the city's first occupied shipping container homestead. Come spring,...

This year, judges in California and Michigan approved the exit plans of two of the largest municipal bankruptcy filings in the country’s history. In California, Stockton upheld its obligations to the state’s pension system behemoth, Calpers, while paying its other creditors as little as pennies on the dollar. Detroit, meanwhile, was able to restructure its obligations to all of its creditors, including city pensioners. While the exit plans differed, both judges ruled similarly: public pension obligations could be shortchanged like any other debt. Stockton and Detroit aren't alone. Cities and states across America are facing catastrophic budget shortfalls. After decades...

It's time to start imagining a society that isn't dominated by police After months of escalating protests and grassroots organizing in response to the police killings of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, police reformers have issued many demands. The moderates in this debate typically qualify their rhetoric with "We all know we need police, but..." It's a familiar refrain to those of us who've spent years in the streets and the barrios organizing around police violence, only to be confronted by officers who snarl, "But who'll help you if you get robbed?" We can put a man on the moon,...

Making it to the big leagues is the dream of countless athletes, but for playoffs-bound Don Carey, being an NFL player does not fulfill his purpose. Carey, the 27-year-old Lions safety, has had to endure the same grueling practice and game schedules as the rest of his peers in the NFL. However, he manages to find the time to pursue a masters degree at Moody Theological Seminary in Plymouth Township, Michigan, while being a family man to his new wife and soon-to-be newborn son.... "Tomorrow is not promised to any of us," Carey told The Christian Post. "I am more...

The NFL on Monday overturned its one-game suspension imposed on Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh for stepping on Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers during Sunday’s game. Suh who has a history of cheap shots and dirty plays was seen on camera stomping on Aaron Rogers previously injured leg. The former Nebraska All-American had appealed the suspension saying that his feet were numb from cold and that he couldn’t tell the difference between Aaron Rodgers’ feet and the ground. Breitbart News reported on Tuesday that Suh’s appeal would be heard by former NFL defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell.

Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh is not suspended from Sunday’s playoff game after all. Suh has won the appeal of his one-game suspension and will play on Sunday at Dallas. Instead of getting suspended, Suh will be fined $70,000. That’s actually a more harsh financial penalty than a suspension would have been, as players on wild card teams are paid $22,000 for their first playoff game.

In 2007, then-Senator Barack Obama signified that he represented a sea-change in the nature of American politics. Obama proclaimed that as a member of the younger generation — born in 1961, at the tail end of the baby boom — he no longer wanted to participate in the stale and tired politics of the 1960s.

Ndamukong Suh will pay a steep price for his fancy footwork in Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers. The NFL has suspended the Lions' defensive tackle for one game for stepping on the leg of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the league announced Monday. Suh will not be available for Sunday's NFC wild card game against the Dallas Cowboys. "You did not respond in the manner of someone who had lost his balance and

Bill Cosby has refused to address the scores of rape allegations that have been hurled at him in recent months, but that doesn't mean he isn't working to clear his name. The comedian is allegedly paying private investigators six-figure fees to dig up dirt on the more than two dozen women who have come forward to accuse him of rape, according to a report in the New York Post. A source told the paper that Cosby has hired a Glendale, California, firm to discredit his many alleged victims' stories.

Not a video Elijah Woody circled Are black people who legally carry guns discriminated against? There is anecdotal evidence to indicate that it happens, particularly in crime-ridden urban centers. Students and retired police friends and acquaintances have told me that when guns were found in the possession of black men, in most urban centers, three or more decades ago, the guns were confiscated, legal or not. That was before the concealed carry revolution, when only a few states issued concealed carry permits, and they were often issued only at the discretion of the police chief. Many of the gun...

Good on you Detroit! Detroit — As 2014 enters its final week, the city is on pace to record its fewest homicides since 1967. The fewest homicides recorded since 1967 – the year of the infamous Detroit riots that began the long slow decline of a great American city. That is a major accomplishment. Only 298 this year, as opposed to the 281 recorded in 1967. This isn’t as impressive when compared on a per capita basis, as there are about a million (literally) fewer people living in Detroit now than there were in ‘67, butt still - not bad...

Paige Stalker might be alive today had she learned about Routine Activity Theory. But she is dead and two of her friends are critically wounded, the latest poster children for R.A.T.: White people in black neighborhoods should expect to be the victims of racial violence. Paige was one of five teenagers from an upscale neighborhood in nearby Grosse Point who were on their way to the movies three days before Christmas when they decided to pull over and smoke marijuana in Detroit. While they were getting a high, a black man with a high-powered rifle approached their car and fired...

DETROIT (WXYZ) - Police now say that the shooting that led to the death of 16-year-old Grosse Pointe teen Paige Stalker may have been an attempted robbery. Three other teens - a girl and two boys - suffered non-life threatening injuries when the car they were sitting in was shot up. Officers say as many as 30 shots were fired into the car. Police are still searching for a suspect in the case. They say the teens originally told them stories that just didn't add up. However, officers now say they have gotten a very clear description of the man...

Now, what once was one of the premier venues in the world is a tattered, empty reminder of the stadium's memorable past - and of the dismal economy in Michigan. Last month Michigan's sometimes harsh weather put pay to the final sections of the old stadium's Teflon-covered roof which just dropped to the field. Afterwards Ohio-based photographer Johnny Joo visited the abandoned stadium and his photos offer an eerie, empty look at a stadium that once held nearly 100,000 people.

Christians and Satanists put up competing displays Sunday on the Michigan Capitol grounds as Christmas week got underway. The Detroit chapter of the Satanic Temple set up its “Snaketivity Scene” featuring a snake offering a book called “Revolt of the Angels” as a gift. The snake is wrapped around the Satanic cross on the 3-feet-by-3-feet display. Capitol rules require that displays have to be taken down each night. In a videotaped interview with the Lansing State Journal, Satanic Temple spokeswoman Jex Blackmore said her group doesn’t worship Satan but does promote individuality, compassion and views that differ from Christian and...

A man dressed as Santa is in custody after shooting two people early Sunday morning at a Detroit gas station. The unidentified victims - both 29-year-old men - were reportedly recovering after the shooting. Officers said the gunman reportedly felt threatened after an argument between himself and the two men at the Speedway on East Jefferson Ave. and I-375.

McDonald’s and its franchisees illegally retaliated against employees for participating in union-related activities, the National Labor Relations Board’s top lawyer alleged Friday in a case with sweeping industry implications. NLRB general counsel Richard Griffin announced Friday he will issue 13 complaints involving 78 charges against franchises and McDonald’s USA, LLC. Though many of these alleged labor violations were committed by independent franchise owners, Griffin ruled earlier this year that McDonald’s can be held liable for those actions as a so-called joint employer, leaving the corporatrion — and potentially other franchisors — exposed to such claims. McDonald’s said the decision will...

Ben Carson, on his first visit here, tells ‘Post’ he is not sure that a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria ‘makes sense,’ and that Israeli settlement construction is ‘blown out of proportion.’ Retired neurosurgeon and aspiring US politician Ben Carson could walk down the streets of Jerusalem, shout at the top of his lungs “I am Ben Carson,” and almost no one would know who he is. At least not yet. But that could change very quickly as the 2016 US presidential campaign picks up speed, and Carson gains traction. And if recent polls are any indication, the 63-yearold...

It was the city on the verge of collapse, perhaps the ultimate example of how a one-time metropolis turned into a sad memory. For the past four decades or so, Detroit, once a mecca for immigrants and the heart of America's industrial revolution, not to mention pop culture, turned into a virtual ghost town. Businesses shut their doors and residents fled by the masses, from a peak of 1.8 million to around 700,000 today. The rapid decline of the auto industry, which the city once so proudly called its lifeline, unearthed a catastrophic failure. One of the nation's major cities...

Gov. Rick Snyder is touting his handling of the Detroit bankruptcy to media outlets around the country. While the bankruptcy went smoothly compared to other municipal proceedings, there is a difference between emerging from bankruptcy and fixing the city government’s problems. Whether Detroit will be successful remains to be seen. The city emerges from bankruptcy having reduced its debt burdens, including large cuts to its retiree health insurance and to its pension benefits. City debts had been looming to take two-thirds of city operating revenue. While easing these burdens was necessary, there is a lot more that needs to be...

In the wake of a New York grand jury deciding not to indict police officer Daniel Pantaleo for the chokehold death of Eric Garner, racially diverse protests instantly erupted across the nation. White faces could be seen in swelling crowds from NYC and D.C., to Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit and Denver. Their mouths covered with masking tape with the words "I can't breathe" scrawled over it. The righteousness of racial solidarity burning in their eyes as they joined in chanting, "Black lives matter! Black lives matter! Black lives matter!" This is not to say that there were not White allies...

Yes, this is happening. Because the US Army needs a few extra bucks. That’s why. Very soon you will be able to buy a surplus Army-issue Humvee at prices starting around $10,000. Yep, this is the real deal. According to Yahoo News and the Army Times, the US Department of Defense will auction off as many as 4,000 military-spec Humvees, instead of sending them to scrap yards. The first batch of 25 Humvees is heading to the auction block tomorrow. Obviously these retired vehicles aren’t in perfect condition, most having been built between 1987 and 1994. They have anywhere from...

Greg Willerer may not seem like your average entrepreneur. The once full-time school teacher quit his job to follow his passion for farming in the most unlikely of places. Located not far from Downtown Detroit, Willerer launched his urban farming business on just one acre of land. During his first year, Willerer earned almost the equivalent of his teaching salary. His venture, Brother Nature Produce, sells locally grown produce to restaurants across Detroit. They recently received a $10,000 grant to help grow their business from the New Economy Initiative’s small business challenge, and his farm was among one of five...

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A published report says dozens of suspected killers, rapists and others who were arrested by Detroit police over the past four years have been released because of a backlog of unsigned warrants. Among the unsigned warrants at the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office are 21 for murder, including one going back to 2010, according to a report in the Detroit News. The newspaper says there are 105 for sexual assault and 126 for child abuse. In most cases, police were forced to release the suspects, since the law requires that they can’t be held beyond 72 hours without...

n 1950, Detroit was America's fifth largest city and one of the most prosperous on the back of its booming motor industry. It prompted the construction of skyscrapers on the banks of the river and the development of vast suburban housing projects in the surrounding areas. But almost 55 years on, a dwindling motor industry and a dramatic fall in blue collar jobs has caused people to leave the Michigan city, abandoning their homes and businesses. These aerial photos reveal the tiny urban island that is left - a clutter of high-rises surrounded by empty housing plots now covered in...

They came to the nation’s capital on buses and planes and minivans and trains, from Florida, Detroit and Staten Island, led as much by the families, friends and supporters of African-American men and boys killed at the hands of the police as by civil rights leaders. Thousands of people marched along the National Mall on Saturday to protest the deaths, mirroring protests planned around the nation Saturday, ranging from hikes in canyons in the West to marches down the streets of the nation’s urban centers. The demonstrators here — many of them wearing T-shirts that read “Black Lives Matter” and...